As Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie wreaked havoc across northern Australia, the record heavy rainfall and cyclonic winds impacted a recently upgraded iconic Top End Tourism Park.
On Christmas Eve, the one-in-fifty-year rain event caused widespread damage to the Wirib Store and Tourism Park, an Indigenous-owned Park in Timber Creek, which sits halfway between Katherine, Northern Territory and Kununurra, Western Australia.
Owned by the Gunamu Aboriginal Corporation (GAC) and Wirib Aboriginal Corporation (WAC), the park has been in operation since the 1970s. In recent years, the park has undergone upgrades, including a cafe refurbishment, which was set to open in 2023.
Apart from six deluxe cabins, the park was destroyed. The new café is a write-off. Fences, including pool fencing and powered site infrastructure, washed away.
Food security maintained
Since 2019, AIG has been managing the Wirib Store for GAC and in this time, the store has turned a corner and become a hub for the community.
At the time of the flooding, the Wirib Store was managed by relief managers Peter and Gayleen Aitken, who described the event as ‘terrifying’. However, they managed to keep the doors to the store open and maintain food security.
“The highest point of the park was in the store, so we bunkered down there with our son Terry and four guests for the night,” explained Peter.
“When we stepped outside in the morning, we noticed that the water level had stopped an inch or two below the store verandah deck and store floor.
“In small communities, the store is the hub. We were able to maintain deliveries with our suppliers and experienced high sales volumes as the community sought to replace food and white goods lost to the floods.
“We also provided food to families requiring refuge at the town’s basketball courts.”
The aftermath
One of the challenges in the aftermath of the flooding included maintaining power via the store’s generator.
Refuelling the generator was a two-hour undertaking as access to the generator had become difficult. As a truck could no longer reach the generator, refuelling the 200-litre generator had to be done by hand using 20-litre jerry cans. In addition, the store’s fuel bowsers were underwater, so fuel had to be accessed from the town’s roadhouse.
“The combination of high customer levels and after-hours supply deliveries made for long days in the store after which I then had to then manually fuel the generator with 160-litres of diesel every day; two jerry cans at a time,” said Peter.
On New Year’s Day, AIG CEO, Liz Morgan-Brett and General Manager Projects and Operations, James Poppleton could again access Timber Creek via road from Darwin. Together, they spent three days cleaning and salvaging what they could to enable the park to reopen for the 2023 tourist season.
To maintain the integrity of the septic system, Matt McKennariey from ENVR Solutions Pty Ltd cut his Christmas holiday short and flew from Melbourne and spent a week onsite working to maintain the system’s integrity.
Behind the scenes, WAC board members Lorraine and Deb Jones worked tirelessly with support from AIG COO Alexa Gutenberger from the moment the damage occurred to assist Peter and Gayleen to maintain food security for the community, liaise with the local disaster response team and the Government.
“It really is incredible how in times of crisis people rally together,” said AIG CEO Liz Morgan-Brett.
“We again saw AIG’s agility in project management and the importance of strong teams working together.”
The 2023 tourist season
AIG CEO Liz Morgan-Brett said that the initial heavy lifting by the Wirib team has given hope to the park to reopen for the 2023 tourist season, however, would require support to do so.
“We hope to be online and safe for camping by the Top End fishing season in April,” said Liz.
“We were able to restore the septic system, power to cabins and amenities, and cleaned and restored several of our basic cabins. Fortunately, our deluxe cabins were untouched, so will come online once the park is compliant.
“With the recent upgrades from funding received with the assistance of AIG’s grant writing service, the park was on its way to becoming the premier destination in the region for tourists. We don’t want to lose sight of this goal.”
The café
Due to the structural damage to the café, it will be a long-term project to bring it back online.
“Supporting our communities to develop viable and sustainable businesses is a critical element of AIG,” explained Liz.
“The café was set to drive local employment and fill a gap in hospitality services in the area. We hope to be able to rebuild and continue this dream for the local community.”
To keep up to date with availability for the 2023 tourist season, visit www.wirib.com.au
